LA leaders and philanthropists launched a $10 million legal-aid fund on Monday to help fight against deportations of undocumented immigrants. The speaker is Antonia Hernandez, president of the California Community Fund. To her left is LA City Attorney Mike Feuer and LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis. To her right is LA Mayor Eric Garcetti and LA City Councilman Gil Cedillo. (Photo by Elizabeth Chou)

L.A. county and city officials announced the creation today of a $10 million fund for the legal defense of Angelenos facing deportation, amid concerns over a potential crackdown on undocumented immigrants under Donald Trump’s presidency.

Los Angeles officials are pledging to come up with $5 million in public dollars for the “L.A. Justice Fund,” which is intended to pay for lawyers to represent immigrants caught up in deportation proceedings.

During a news conference at Los Angeles City Hall, Mayor Eric Garcetti said the city is aiming to pitch in $2 million, while County Supervisor Hilda Solis said she plans to introduce a motion at tomorrow’s board meeting to ask that up to $3 million in county dollars go into the fund.

The rest of the money is expected to be raised through private philanthropic efforts by the Weingart Foundation, the California Endowment and the California Community Foundation.

The specific uses of the $10 million have yet to be determined, but county and city leaders said the money will go to immigrants who otherwise lack access to or cannot afford proper legal representation.

City Attorney Mike Feuer said the likelihood of success for immigrants fighting deportation is often based on the “luck of the draw,” or on whether the immigrant has a lawyer.

Solis also emphasized the need for immigrants to have adequate legal support in their cases, saying “everyone deserves to have a fair day in court.”

Garcetti said city and county officials are hoping to begin using the fund early next year, “as the new administration takes office.”

“We don’t know how far the new administration will go when it comes to our nation’s immigration policy, but we all heard the … dangerous rhetoric of the election,” he said.

The legal fund is part of a series of measures city and county officials, along with California’s state lawmakers, following Trump’s election, which has brought uncertainty to the lives of immigrants, including for those who are part of a Obama administration program, known as DACA, that put a hold on deportations of people who were brought to the country illegally as children.

“The need is urgent, and the fear is real,” Garcetti said of efforts to counter immigration policies that may be implemented under a Trump administration.

An estimated 3,700 immigrants in the Los Angeles area are detained and lack legal representation, while thousands more who are not in detention also may not have lawyers, mayoral aides said.

The state already provides legal support to unaccompanied minors, while state lawmakers are now working on a bill to also set up a legal aid fund, she said.

Garcetti also noted today that the fund, aimed at the county’s most “vulnerable” immigrants, will not only help “the Spanish-speaking community,” but also immigrants from Asia and the Pacific Islands, Africa, the Middle East and other parts of the world.

“We want to make sure that everyone knows that this fund is there for them,” he said.

Antonia Hernandez, president of the California Community Fund, one of the city and county’s private, philanthropic partners on the fund, said strategies like the legal defense fund are part of California leaders’ long record of fighting anti-immigrant policies, such as Proposition 187.

“We have learned the lesson that we are a state, a county, a city and a country of immigrants,” Hernandez said.

“California, the city and the county are providing that leadership of saying not only legally, but morally, that we are in it together,” she said. “And to our immigrant, undocumented brothers and sisters, we will stand by them.”

Elizabeth Chou has reported on Los Angeles City Hall government and politics since 2013, first with City News Service, and now the Los Angeles Daily News since the end of 2016. She grew up in the Los Angeles area, and formerly a San Gabriel Valley girl. She now resides in the other Valley, and is enjoying exploring her new San Fernando environs. She previously worked at Eastern Group Publications, covering Montebello, Monterey Park, City of Commerce, and Vernon.